Story+1984-09-24+Buffalo,+NY

´´Thanks, this is....I remember when I was a kid, my dad used to...he´d come home from work and he´d....sit in the kitchen at night....and sometimes late at night he´d ask me if I wanted to go for a ride....and uh, just me and him, we´d get in the car and we´d go outside of town and....there was this big house that used to sit on this hill out there.....I remember he used to say ´See, that´s, that´s where it is, there it is´....and uh.....sometimes I´m the man outside....and sometimes I feel like I´m still looking in....the mansion on the hill....”
 * 24.09.84 Buffalo, NY, intro to ´Mansion on the Hill´**

´´This is a song, it´s kind of....about, uh....I guess, the fleetingness of love, you know how when you first meet somebody....everything they say is so brilliant and they´re so wonderful and you´re holding hands with ´em every place you go....and kissing ´em all the time....you know, and anything they wanna do is fine, like ´Oh honey, what movie do you want we go see ?´, ´Oh honey, I don´t care, any movie you wanna go see´....or ´Do you wanna go out or do you wanna stay home tonight ?´, ´Oh honey, I don´t care what we do just as long as I´m with you´....and you can´t keep your hands off ´em and stuff, it´s like ´Oh baby, not again´.... ´I can´t help it, you just excite me so much´....all that, you know, all that stuff´s going on and ....and then, uh, then you come back in about four or five months later, then you hear ´How did I ever get mixed up with somebody as stupid as you ?´....´Are you gonna take me out or do I have to sit around here and look at your face all night ?´....´Are you gonna make love to me or are we gonna wait for the full moon again ?´....(?)....anyway, it kind of ends up feeling like....”
 * 24.09.84 Buffalo, NY, intro to ´I´m Goin´Down´**

´´Now this, this is a song....it´s about old times.....it´s about how people get nostalgic all the time....thinking about way back when....now, the older you get, the more old times you´ve got....I just got another year´s worth the other day....but, now, Clarence, he´s got more old times than me.....but he wears his so well....see, like, people are always coming up and telling you what a great time you used to have, like I was watching this ´Twilight Zone´ the other night.....usually when I get done with the show, there´s nothing on but like old ´Twilight Zone´-reruns or....news all night long or something and so there was this one the other night, was about this actor, he was an old man but he was wishing he was young again and wishing he was back, he said everybody used to be so nice to him and so of course, you know....(plays a snippet of ´Outer Limits´) he gets into the Twilight Zone....and he goes back....and he finds out that everybody, who he thought was so nice, was treating him like a dog and all the fun he thought he did have wasn´t that much fun and in the end, you know, he wishes he was his normal age and he gets sent back....but now the reason I bring this up is ´cause I´m always out, sometimes I´m out in a bar and somebody comes up to me and they say ´Oh, Bruce, Bruce, remember all the fun we used to have at high school ?....at high school, whatever so much fun....´, you know, you go ´Yeah, yeah, that was a good time´ but, you know, but when I think back, I remember that like I hated high school....I couldn´t stand no high school....I don´t like no high school even now....this time of year comes around, I´m still glad that I don´t have to go back.....I´ve been out for 15 years and I´m still glad....but anyway....in high school, there was only two things I was interested in....now, one was the guitar....the other one....now, now, the guitar´s the one that I became proficient at....the other one, I´m still looking for some volunteers who wanna practise, practise, practise...but anyway....anyway, this song is about how all things must pass....how it ain´t nothing but glory days....”
 * 24.09.84 Buffalo, NY, intro to ´Glory Days´**

´´When I...when I was growing up, I used to live...in this, uh.....near this park....and in the middle of this park, there was this monument.....I remember my mother used to ask me where I was going, I´d tell her I was always gonna go and play by the monument and she knew where I was...and uh....then when I got my first band.....we, uh, we went out and bought these like plastic snakeskin vests, we were gonna have our first publicity pictures taken....we´d never had our pictures taken and we went out and we got these plastic snakeskin vests and Beatle boots....got these frilly shirts and black....black jeans and uh.... I remember we used to, we all had curly hair and we used to try and straighten our hair so we´d look like Brian Jones did in the Rolling Stones, you know (chuckles)....it was, it was embarrassing but it had to be done (chuckles)....it was, and we went down, I remember we went down in front of this monument and we all stood out in front with our guitars and we had on these real serious faces ´cause any pictures we were smiling in we threw out right away, we decided they weren´t cool enough or tough enough looking or something (chuckles) you know (chuckles) got all our poses down but uh, I realised I grew up around this monument my whole life and I never knew, knew what it was a monument to and it ended up there was this revolutionary war battle, it was fought just outside of the town I grew up in....but uh, before this tour, I went down to Washington and, uh....I visited the Lincoln Memorial and I visited the Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial....and uh....the drummer, the drummer in my first band, I remember he, him coming over....he quit the band, he joined the Marines, he came over with his uniform on, said he was going to Vietnam, he said he didn´t know where it was....but uh, his name´s in the stone down there..... and it´s a long ways from....that Lincoln Memorial, it´s a long walk and it´s a lot of years to that Vietnam Veterans´Memorial....and uh.....right now, there´s something real dangerous happening here in this country, we´re a long ways from the government that´s supposed to represent all the people....to where we are today....and in the end, this is your hometown....”
 * 24.09.84 Buffalo, NY, intro to ´My Hometown´**

´´Bring it down, boys....well, now, this song....is about the conflict....between worldly things and spiritual health....between desires of the flesh....and spiritual ecstasy....now where did this conflictbegin ?.....well, it began in the beginning at the Garden of Eden....now, the Garden of Eden was originally believed to have been located somewhere in the Middle East ....but the latest theological studies have found out that its actual location was ten miles south of Jersey City off the New Jersey Turnpike....well, now, in the Garden of Eden, there was none of the accoutrements of modern living....there was no TV....there was no beds, no houses, no clothes....you couldn´t go out on to the highway and get a hamburger when you wanted one.... there was no sin ....there was no sex.....man lived in a state of innocence.... now, when it comes to no sex, personally, I prefer the state of guilt that I constantly live in.... but in the Garden of Eden, there was a man, there was a woman, there was an apple, there was a snake, there was temptation, there was sin....and parked curbside, there was their getaway car....a pink Cadillac....”
 * 24.09.84 Buffalo, NY, intro to ´Pink Cadillac´**

´´Ladies and gentlemen....boys and girls....children of all ages....citizens of Buffalo....and whoever the hell else is out there....it is now time to introduce the illustrious, the industrious members of the E Street Band....I would like to begin this honor by introducing to you a gentleman to my far left....he´s the most intelligent member of the E Street Band....he has not only a complete grammar school diploma but also a full high school diploma.... the man turned down a scholarship to Harvard University where he was gonna work on his PhD in unusual sexual practises....to join the 1984 tour with the E Street Band....they called him up, he told ´em they could kiss his ass, he gave up higher education in order to rock the nation ....let me introduce you to the dedicated, the complicated, the sexually liberated, ´Professor´ Roy Bittan on the piano....the brains of the whole operation....and next, on vocals, from Long Branch, New Jersey, an alumni of Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes....the lovely, the talented, the beautiful, she´s single, boys, she hates to be alone, on vocals, Miss Patti Scialfa .... and next the man that puts the bass in your face, that brings you the thunder from down under, his mother was a Tallent, his father was a Tallent, if he has some kids they´re gonna be little Tallents, Mr.Garry W.Tallent on the bass guitar....and now we´ve got the man who puts the heat in the beat to get your asses out of your seat and moving your feet....author of ´The Big Beat´, ´The Mighty One´, Max Weinberg on the drums....and now we´ve got a gentleman who´s celebrating his 15th anniversary as a member of the E Street Band .... Danny, for 15 years of dedication, tonight I´d like to show my appreciation....bring out the gifts.....a portable hairdryer....and two tickets to tonight´s show....on the organ, ´Phantom´ Dan Federici.....and next we´ve got.....the newest member of the E Street Band....a man as sweet as life itself....on the guitar, Mr. Nils Lofgren (Nils does his trampoline stunt)....and now a gentleman who needs no introduction....the king of the world, the master of the universe and if there was any justice, the next president of the United States....gimme a C... L....A...R....E....N....C....E.... what´s that spell ?...what´s that spell ?....what´s that spell ? ... ´The Big Man´ Clarence Clemons on the saxophone....”
 * 24.09.84 Buffalo, NY, middle of ´Rosalita´**

‘‘Thanks...I´d like to thank everybody for coming down to the show tonight, thank you....I know it´s, uh....it´s hard to get tickets sometimes, you gotta wait long in lines and stuff, I want you to know we appreciate it....this is, uh....when I was a kid, the first thing that meant anything to me was, uh..... was when I heard the music of Elvis Presley....and uh....I remember it kind of came down into my house and....where I couldn’t, I wasn’t learning nothing in school and I wasn’t picking up anything at home, showed me that there was, uh.... like, there was more to living than....than what I´d been doing and what I’d seen my folks do ....and uh....I was lucky, I dreamed something and a big part of my dream came true....but uh ...I guess his music always kind of said just ‘Let freedom ring’ to me but it’s no good if it’s just for, for one, it’s gotta be for everyone....and you gotta fight for it every day somehow .... so be careful out there....”
 * 24.09.84 Buffalo, NY, intro to ‘Born to Run’**

//Compiled by : Johanna Pirttijärvi//